Chapter X: The Prevention of Accidents

The safety of workmen depends not altogether upon the stability and strength of a scaffold, but also upon the use of certain precautions which, while not requisite for the progress of the work, are most necessary for the prevention of accidents.

Put briefly, the principal of these precautions are:

Ladders should rise at least 6 feet 6 inches above the top platform they serve.

If the ladder is too short for this height to be allowed, a T piece as fig. 138 should be fixed across the top of the ladder to give warning to the workman that he has no higher hand hold.

Ladders above 25 feet in length between foot and rest should be stayed in the centre to prevent sagging. The stay should be a wooden shaft with an iron clip. By clipping the rung as shown in fig. 139 they do not meet the workman’s hands and feet when climbing. The same effect is gained when the top of the ladder rises considerably above the point of rest, by staying as shown on fig. 140.

Ladders should have a level footing and be firmly tied to the point of rest.

Working platforms should be fitted with guard rails along the outside and at the ends, at a height of 3 feet 6 inches from the platform. They may be temporarily removed for the landing of the workmen and material, although it is not always necessary to do so in the latter case.

If a well is left in the working platform through which to hoist material, the opening should be guarded with rails as for the outside and ends.

A well hole, if likely to be of permanent use, should be fitted with a hinged flap door, that can be shut down as required.

Boards on edge should be fitted on the outside and ends of working platforms, and should rise above the platform at least 7 inches. This will allow of a 9-inch board being used standing on the putlogs. They should not be fixed near ladders where the workmen land. Additional boards should be placed at the back of any stack of bricks or other material in order to prevent it falling off the scaffold.

Edge boards are usually nailed to the standards. On exposed situations it is better to tie them, as the wind, continually acting on their surface, will in time draw the nails.

Platform boards, when lapping, frequently lose their place, being kicked by the workmen during their progress about the scaffold. When this happens the boards assume the position shown on fig. 141, and what is known as a trap is formed. The danger of a trap is shown on fig. 142.

Platform boards to be safe from tilting, should not project more than 6 inches beyond the putlogs. At this distance the weight of the workman is most over the putlog, and even if he stood on the extreme edge, experiments have shown that his weight is more than counterbalanced by the weight and length of an ordinary board.

Where scaffold boards are used as a means of communication between one part of the scaffold and another they should be laid in pairs, so as to form 'runs’ at least 18 inches wide. To prevent unequal sagging they should be strapped on the under side. It would be better to have properly constructed gangways and most decidedly safer.

'Bridging runs’ for barrows are usually three boards wide. Five boards wide is better, and, as previously shown, they should be joined to prevent unequal sagging.

Centering should be carried on supports which rise from a solid foundation (fig. 143). The practice of trusting the supports to keep their position under pressure from the stay A (fig. 144), or by being spiked to the new work, is to be regretted, as the only reason for its use is to effect a very slight saving of timber.

The various knots, tyings, marryings, &c., should be carefully watched, as, if used in a damp condition, the cordage relaxes considerably when drying. The scaffolder should have instructions to examine carefully all cordage in use and tighten the same as required.

The use of sound plant should be insisted upon. Defective plant should be at once marked, so that its use cannot be unknowingly continued.

Only the scaffolder or his assistant should be allowed to erect, alter or adapt the scaffolding for its different purposes. Many accidents, again, occur owing to the scaffolding having been altered during a temporary absence of the mechanic, and the reconstruction not having been made safe by his return. This most frequently happens when the scaffolding is not under the charge of one responsible person.

No working platform should be used by the mechanic until its construction is complete. Sufficient plant should be on the job to enable this to be done without disturbing the platform already in use.

Scaffolds should not be heavily loaded. Apart from the risk of the timbers failing, the weight, in the case of the bricklayers’ scaffold, has a bad effect upon the new work.

Fan guards, as shown on fig. 145, are usually erected in urban districts to safeguard the public from falling material. There is no reason why, for the safety of the workmen, they should not be always fixed.

Due care should be exercised by the workmen themselves, and observance made to the unwritten rules of experience.

The following instance is given as an illustration of what is meant.

A scaffolder requiring a pole carried it from point A on fig. 146 to point B. He carelessly carried it upon his right shoulder, and in turning the corner the pole hit against the standard C, the recoil knocking him off the scaffold. If he had carried the pole on his left shoulder he would have fallen inwardly on the boards, and his life would not have been lost.